Some snowflakes form as “split stars”, basically two parallel plated connected by a very short center column, and the top plate can have as few as 1 or as many as 5 of the 6 possible branches. This could be the top plate with one branch, after being sheared from it’s twin plate on the bottom.

Or, this could be a broken branch from another snowflake – early enough in it’s life that it began to grow from the breaking point, similar to a cutting of a plant taking root itself.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter – it’s still beautiful!

Simple plates and columns usually fall from the same clouds – where you find one you will often find the other. The column crystal you see here is actually two crystals; a “crystal twin”, identified by the groove in the middle. The groove is caused by evaporation / sublimation, because at this exact point the molecular bond between the two crystals is slightly weaker. Thanks to Kenneth Libbrecht for that little tidbit of info, from his book “Field Guide to Snowflakes”.

The column measures roughly 1mm long.

The “geometric” center is accented by a more organic, circular plate sitting on top of the branches which you can see formed underneath it. I’m not sure exactly how this particular structure is created, but it adds a very lacy look to the snowflake.

You might also notice a large number of small circles spread across the branches. These circles are tiny water droplets that collided with the snowflake as it fell to Earth. They almost look like tiny impact craters.

Plenty of interesting geometry, symmetry and fractals in a tiny snowflake such as this. A lot of people will likely find this snowflake beautiful, and it makes me contemplate the idea of natural beauty. Beauty in any context is very subjective; On the most basic levels, it is decided by instinct and evolution. We notice fractal patterns because they’re often important, and even photos that follow a Fibonacci spiral will have a subliminally pleasing composition. When I look at this snowflake and see beauty, it’s not because it’s beautiful – it’s because our brains is wired to think so.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is true for a snowflake as much as it is for love at first sight; Beauty is what you make of it.

This is a phenomenon I have noticed recently. Some center elements of snowflakes have exhibited green/cyan and pink/magenta solid colouring. These colours are familiar in chromatic aberrations created by the lens, but are not located on the high-contrast edges that typically identify such aberrations.

The colour is caused by very specific optical interference within the different layers of ice. Pink and green colours are often the result, and can show up in the “iris” of the crystal.The rainbow colours in the branches may be cause by either optical interference or a prism effect – or both! Physics works in wonderful ways to add colour to a snowflake.

Bits of colour, repeating fractal geometry and strong structure make this snowflake stand out. The light hits the “trunks” of the branches on just the right angle to reveal the contours of the changes in thickness.

The darker center is created because of the angle of the flash – just the right angle to reflect on the branches, but it misses the center structure because of it’s flatness. The center of this snowflake likely grew slower, and then as the environmental variables changed, the branches began spreading.

There is a lot that can be told of a snowflake’s life simply by looking at it!

The “split” design is likely caused by two connected plates each growing dominantly on opposite sides and competing in the middle. This creates a unique and somewhat unpredictable structure that I have only seen a handful of times.

For those curious how an image like this is created:

- the image of the earth is not placed inside the droplet with Photoshop – you’re seeing natural refraction at work.

- The image is focus-stacked from 17 separate images, all hand-held. Focus stacking is required at these macro magnifications to achieve greater depth of field.

- The water droplet is resting on a flower petal (Gerbera Daisy, if you’re curious!)

- The top of the water droplet (where you see a streak of red) is reflecting the top of the petal that it is resting on.

- The scene was lit using a Pringles can as a light modifier.

- You can grab your own copy of the image used in this photograph from NASA’s Visible Earth website

This photograph is proudly featured on the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Outdoor Photography Canada. Click the cover shot to the right to grab a copy of the issue and read through my “Beginner Basics” column. You can also grab it on newsstands now!

I decided not to show a full-on star trail shot here, because the streaks completely overpowered the subtle green hues in the night sky. Instead, I calculated which images to use, having their distance grow exponentially to lead into (or away from) a solid spiral pattern. I then picked the closest image to the equation that was visually pleasing, and stacked the images together using the “lighten” blending mode in Photoshop.

7 shots spanning over 2 hours in total were used, and the aurora fell in just the right places to leave the center of the spinning stars clearly visible. (although, it’s us that are spinning – someone always corrects me!) I’ve just printed this as a 32″x20″ canvas and it looks stunning, the first of many prints I make from my adventures in the Yukon.

The full shoot was for over 6 hours, but the images used were at the most active part of the storm.